Dig In: Growing local helps eliminate guesswork

What’s in your salad? The immediate answer is lettuce and tomatoes, but what’s their history? The lettuce may be from California, the tomatoes from Mexico. How were they grown, when were they picked, and what were they sprayed with? The stories behind our food are getting more complex, and we’ve gotten skeptical.

What’s in your salad? The immediate answer is lettuce and tomatoes, but what’s their history? The lettuce may be from California, the tomatoes from Mexico. How were they grown, when were they picked, and what were they sprayed with? The stories behind our food are getting more complex, and we’ve gotten skeptical. Factor in decreased nutrition levels and increased cost of imported food, and a quiet revolution happens.

In 2017, growing your own food continues to be an attractive option for gardeners. Local food is, increasingly, the only food we trust. Growing your own food is one part of the larger trend toward produce, meat, baking, and other foodstuffs that we want to know the story behind.

At the greenhouse I’ve watched countless new customers — many who are new to gardening — scoop up microgreens, veggie seeds, seed potatoes, garlic, and everything else in record numbers. Be it for the sake of your pocketbook, fitness, family health, or simply knowing what has gone into that tomato you’re eating, interest in homegrown food continues to grow.

Organic vs. local

Many people ask me what the difference between organic and local is, while some even admit to incorrectly assuming that they were the same thing. However, organic and local have about as much in common as apples and oranges.

Organic means food grown without pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or genetic modifications. Sound simple? It gets complicated quickly. While only growers who meet strict guidelines can be certified as organic, non-organic producers tend to adopt the name — or the implication. On top of that, countries wishing to import ‘organic’ food make ‘equivalency arrangements’ with the Canadian government to define what can be called organic.

Local means food grown close to home, though not necessarily organically. The smaller the producer — farmers markets, for example, or even food pulled out of your own backyard — the more you can trust the ‘local’ term. When deciding what’s best for the plant, sometimes we have to choose between the carbon footprint of importing organic food versus the chemicals used in growing locally. Canadians are increasingly choosing local options, and the trend toward growing our own continues to skyrocket.

Native plants

Our love of locally grown plants doesn’t stop with edibles. Native plants are flying off shelves in record numbers, driven by concerns about environment, ease of care, and changing weather conditions.

In California, where crops and gardens have been ravaged by drought, people are planting natives because they require little supplemental watering, while people with tropical, water-intensive gardens are being shamed online. While we’re in a different situation here in Alberta, water conservation is an important consideration that native plants can help with.

Environmentally, native plants are a win-win. They attract pollinators and beneficial predators, which can help increase your edible yield and reduce the need to spray toxins. Lazy gardeners (myself included), are increasingly turning to native plants. Overwintering is a breeze, they require little synthetic fertilizer, and they’ll host garrisons of hungry predators to keep the pests at bay.

Aesthetically, loving native plants doesn’t have to mean resigning yourself to a scruffy, untamed yard. An increasing array of contemporary design options — from prairie grass yards to xeriscaped rock gardens — are making landscaping with native plants more appealing to mainstream gardeners.

Rob Sproule is the co-owner of Salisbury Greenhouse in Sherwood Park. Reach him by e-mail at rob@salisburygreenhouse.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SalisburyGarden.

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